- Prosecutors will not have to prove that former police officer intended to kill Duante Wright.
- Potter faces first and second-degree manslaughter charges for the police shooting of Wright in April.
- Potter shot Wright during a traffic stop in April after grabbing her gun while shouting "taser!"
Prosecutors will not need to prove that former Minneapolis Police officer Kim Potter intended to kill Daunte Wright, a Black man, in her upcoming trial, according to her criminal charges.
Potter faces charges of first and second-degree manslaughter for the police-involved shooting of Wright last spring. Jury selection for the trial of the former police officer will begin November 30.
Potter shot Wright during a traffic stop on April 11. Potter and another officer pulled Wright over for driving with an expired license plate and determined that there was a warrant for his arrest for failing to appear in court for a previous charge, according to police.
Potter can be heard shouting "I'll tase ya. Taser! Taser! Taser!" shortly before shooting Wright in the chest on body camera footage released by police. "Shit, I shot him," Potter can be heard saying in the released footage.
Prosecutors initially charged Potter with second-degree manslaughter, claiming that by culpable negligence she "created an unreasonable risk and consciously took a chance of causing death or great bodily harm" to Wright, according to a criminal complaint.
The state added a first-degree manslaughter charge on September 1, accusing Potter of causing Wright's death "while committing the misdemeanor offense of reckless handling or use of a firearm so as to endanger the safety of another with such force and violence that death or great bodily harm to any person was reasonably foreseeable," an amended criminal complaint shows.
That means prosecutors will not have to prove that Potter intended to kill Wright to convict her on either count, only that her action led to his death.
Potter faces up to 15 years in prison for the first-degree manslaughter charge and up to 10 years in prison for the second-degree charge. She also could have to pay a total of $50,000 in fines if convicted on both charges.
Potter shot Wright at the same time witness testimony was coming to a close in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, another former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd in May 2020. Floyd's murder sparked police brutality and racial justice protests nationwide that lasted through summer 2020.